Category: Victories

Remembering Elias Eljuri: A Client and a Friend

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May 31, 2017
Remembering Elias Eljuri: A Client and a Friend Elias E. Eljuri There are moments in life when the true nature of something is revealed in the fog.  Sometimes, an object will only reveal itself slowly as the fog lifts.  Other times the object shines brightly cutting through the fog with its clarity. For example, as the evidence of Russian interference and espionage in the 2016 Presidential election mounts, the true nature of the Russian government is becoming increasing apparent to many in the U.S. 

Whitman Walker Health Presents Ava Benach with Fenner Award for Public Service

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May 24, 2017
Whitman Walker Health Presents Ava Benach with Fenner Award for Public Service   Earlier this month, Ava Benach received the Fenner Award for Public Service from Whitman Walker Health Legal Services.  She got it for doing what she does best– winning cases! The award recognizes the unique relationship that Benach Collopy has formed with Whitman Walker Health.  Whitman Walker Health is the premier health care provider serving the LGBT community in Washington DC.  Since its founding in the early days of the HIV crisis, WWH has expanded its services to provide more holistic assistance to its community. 

Client of the Month May 2017- Meher D’Mello

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May 18, 2017
Client of the Month May 2017- Meher D'Mello Ava & Meher, NYC 4/13/17 I have been waiting to write this one for decades.  Meher is one of my favorite people and on May 18, 2017, she will take the oath of United States citizenship in her hometown of New York, NY.  It was a 16 year journey that Meher and I began in our twenties.  We have moved across jobs, law firms, cities, and countries together. 

April 2017 Clients of the Month- Angela and Omar Totti Ramirez

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April 27, 2017
April 2017 Clients of the Month- Angela and Omar Totti Ramirez Angela and Omar Totti Ramirez are our clients of the month for April 2017.  Omar, a Bolivian citizen, recently received his residence based upon his marriage to Angela, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Bolivia. We thought we had seen it all before we handled this case.  It started off as a simple marriage-based application for residence, the type we have done thousands of times.  Angela had been married before. 

Benach Collopy Asylum Summer Fellowship 2017

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March 27, 2017
Benach Collopy Asylum Summer Fellowship 2017 The Benach Collopy Asylum Summer Fellowship 2017 I have been so lucky to get to know so many brave, hard-working, family-oriented, and generous people from all over the globe.  They all shared one thing in common: a willingness to take a chance to come to the U.S. to be the person they knew they were meant to be. -Ava Benach Description of Fellowship Surging violence against transgender and gender nonconforming communities worldwide continue to force a record number of individuals to seek protection at U.S.

Clients of the Month February 2017- Karla and Anthony Duran

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February 7, 2017
Clients of the Month February 2017- Karla and Anthony Duran During these difficult times for our country, when the Trump Administration has suspended the refugee resettlement program and attempted to paint all refugees as terrorists and security threats, Benach Collopy has continued the fight for human rights, including the right to seek asylum and protection from persecution. We are pleased to introduce our Clients of the Month for February 2017, Karla Duran and her six-year-old son Anthony. 

Clients of the Month December 2016: Andres and Jazmine St. Claire

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January 6, 2017
Clients of the Month December 2016: Andres and Jazmine St. Claire Our December 2016 Client of the Month is another member of the “Dreamers out of Trump’s reach” club. Andres St. Claire and Jazmine St. Claire are clients of the month after Andres was granted residence seven years after marrying Jazmine Andres St. Claire is a Dreamer who got protection under DACA. But before that, he was in love with Jazmine St. Claire, with whom he shared an immigrant experience and a love of video games and dogs.

Client of the Month: January 2017 Danieca Bugarin

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January 4, 2017
Client of the Month: January 2017 Danieca Bugarin Danieca Bugarin Our January 2017 Client of the Month is part of our ongoing series of: “Dreamers that Trump can’t touch!”  Danieca Bugarin landed in San Francisco, CA on December 30, 2016, presented her immigrant visa, and was admitted to the U.S. as a permanent resident.  Her admission to the U.S. as a permanent resident looked so improbable for the past two years because Danieca was snake-bit when it came to immigration. 

Client of the Month November 2016- Mariana Laredo

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November 15, 2016
Client of the Month November 2016- Mariana Laredo We are happy to announce Mariana Laredo as our Client of the Month for November 2016.  In a week full of dread over the results of the Presidential election, Mariana provided a ray of sunshine.  Yesterday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service formally acknowledged that Mariana was a citizen at birth when she was born in Mexico in 2002 to her Mexican mother, Rosalba and her American father, Gilberto Soto. 

Clients of the Month- October 2016: 5 Child Refugees!

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October 20, 2016
Clients of the Month- October 2016: 5 Child Refugees! Liana Montecinos This post was written by Liana Montecinos. Thirsty, hungry, at the brink of exhaustion, and with fear of violent deaths looming large back home is how many Central American children cross into the U.S.  I know this because I have the privilege to work with child refugees in my capacity as paralegal at Benach Collopy and previously as a legal assistant at CAIR Coalition.